The present application relates generally to technologies for producing customized images on workpieces, and in particular, to a system and method for decorating consumer products using laser etching.
In recent years, the popularization of digital media and digital printing technologies has created great demands for consumer products decorated with customized images. Most of such customized images are printed by digital printers with colorants such as inks or dyes. Some objects, however, are not suitable for receiving inks or dyes. Some other objects are aesthetically more appealing if the images are directly engraved, carved, or etched on their surfaces without using colorants. Such objects can be made of materials such as glass, plastic, wood, stone, metal, laminates, leather or faux leathers, vinyl, composite materials, etc.
Laser etching can produce customized image patterns on objects without the use of colorants. One or more workpieces can be placed in a laser etching apparatus and etched in a batch. In some workflows for decorating custom products, each item is considered a unique order by an individual customer. It is difficult to keep track of the workpieces once they are removed from the laser etching apparatus using the current manufacturing process. While the blank work pieces may have the same shape and may be made of the same materials, the customized images are usually different and are chosen by different customers. Since the finished products are often placed on desks and coffee tables for decorations, it is undesirable to etch or print product tracking numbers or codes directly on the workpieces. Thus, it is easy to mix up workpieces once they are moved from the laser etching apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, currently product tracking labels are printed on a job ticket 100 (i.e. which can be an 8.5″ by 11″ paper) sheet using a separate printer such as a laser printer and an ink jet printer. Thumbnail images 110 and 120 that mimic the input digital images are printed on the job ticket 100 by the laser printer or the ink jet printer. The thumbnail images 110 and 120 respectively reproduce the image patterns on the workpieces. In addition, product codes 115, 125 that respectively uniquely identify the workpieces (FIG. 1) are also printed respectively adjacent to the thumbnail images 110 and 120. The job ticket 100 is then separated to smaller workpiece tracking labels each corresponding to a workpiece. After the workpieces are moved from the laser etching apparatus, the tracking labels are paired up with the workpieces, to be moved together throughout the rest of the manufacturing steps (e.g. optional in-line processing, up-sale items, packaging, shipping, etc.).
A drawback for the current manufacturing process is that the workpiece tracking labels are printed by different printers, which adds complexity, labor, and cost to the manufacturing process. Another drawback for the current manufacturing process is that the pairing of the workpiece tracking labels and the workpieces can be error-prone because the workpieces and their corresponding tracking labels are paired manually and must be matched together visually.
There is therefore a need for a simpler, less labor intensive, and lower cost solution for manufacturing workpieces using laser etching.